Over the last few months much of the focus within the football world has centred on the issue of governance and the role occupied by stakeholders within the different structures, as well as the approach of the governing bodies of football on democracy and transparency. It has clearly become the key item on ECA's agenda for the past season and will certainly remain such in the near future.

Good Governance

Systems of Good Governance are characterized by their ability to meet the interests of ALL stakeholders in a manner, which allows them to determine the development of the sector in a way that reflects their contribution. They allow for a good balance taking all relevant interests into account.

The current governance system in football does not meet this standard.

Clubs are the driving force of the game, providing the social focal point for supporters and the excitement and drama of top matches. The primary allegiance on the part of a supporter is to their club. European clubs provide for 75% of all participating players at the World Cup and 100% at the European Championships.

Both the European Commission and the European Parliament have set good governance as pre-condition for sports' autonomy and called for Sport Governance structures to be 'open, transparent and democratic'.

A proper balance within the governance system must be achieved enabling the clubs - together with the other relevant stakeholders like the leagues and the players - to influence and determine the future of football taking into account the risks and responsibilities they assume in performing international activity. There is an urgent need for reform to the current governance system.

For ECA, Good Governance would enable to overcome differences and achieve solutions to the varying interests of stakeholders and re-balance key areas where disagreements exist including:

International Calendar

The International Calendar is at the heart of all discussions as all dates mentioned in this calendar make the release of national team players mandatory for clubs. The elaboration of the international calendar is solely a FIFA matter and, as a result, is clearly in favour of national team football to the detriment of club football.

As a principle, ECA is supportive of national team football but believes that player's exhaustion through an excessive number of games must be addressed as a top priority. Currently, this is not the case. For example, at present following a long and exhausting World Cup tournament, national team players are called up again at the start of their preparation for the new season to play friendly matches with their national team.

It must be mentioned that in 2004 the European clubs accepted to renounce to a Champions League with two group stages thus reducing the match dates from 17 to 13 to allow for more rest for players. In October 2010, however, ECA discovered that the FIFA Executive Committee had unilaterally decided to add 8 dates (from 38 to 46) over the period 2011-2014 to the international match calendar without any precise reason and without any consultation with the key stakeholders concerned.

As a result, ECA has taken the initiative to put forward concrete proposals for the international calendar 2015-2018, which were presented following the ECA General Assembly on the 8th of February 2011. The new basic principles that ECA would like to see form part of the future international calendar include:

• National team 'periods' as opposed to national team dates for official or friendly games, i.e. less releases but for a longer time.
• A maximum of one international tournament per player per year to address the concerns we have relating to player's exhaustion.
• A period of at least 7 weeks without any national team activity following major international tournaments like the World Cup or the Confederation Tournaments.
• The determination of 'fixed slots' for the major confederation and international national team tournaments.
• Certainty of rules that cannot be changed in the course of the cycle.

ECA has chosen dialogue to progress on key challenges and has always been open to discuss this matter with the other European football stakeholders and there is a common understanding that a concept based on 'double-dates' only with less releases and no single friendly matches is a good option going forward.

ECA has therefore officially formulated its proposal for a two-season cycle based on the following principles:

• 6 double-dates and no single friendlies (meaning 12 dates in total occupied by qualifiers);
• 6 releases in total;
• One 'fixed slot' for international tournaments;
• One international senior tournament per player per calendar year.

Insurance for National Team Players

Many players come back injured from games with their national team. In many cases these players are unable to perform for several months and cannot serve their club in the running season.

According to FIFA regulations, the clubs are obliged to insure their players against illness and accident during the entire period of the release. Given the incredible financial benefits that the governing bodies derive from the big national team tournaments, like the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championships (EURO), such a system seems no longer up-to-date. It must be noted that the success of these tournaments results mainly from the high quality of the players, which are exclusively trained and paid by the clubs.

As a result, ECA has taken up discussions with both UEFA and FIFA on this matter to look at the possibilities that exist in introducing a collective insurance policy for players' salaries in case of long-term injuries, to be fully covered by the event organisers.

The aim is to install an insurance policy that covers all players registered in a European federation for all activities undertaken for the national teams. The scope of an insurance policy would include:

• All players registered with a European club (European and non-European players);
• All mandatory national team games (incl. travelling and training).

Medical Protocol

In addition to the introduction of an insurance policy, the governing bodies need to facilitate and support the creation of a formal consultation process between clubs and national teams for the release of their players, in particular with regard to dealing with injuries and treatments sustained during national team duties. These steps are more than necessary and would be extremely beneficial to release existing tensions between clubs and federations for the release of players and can only be welcomed by the national associations. ECA has identified a number of guidelines, including:

• Immediate information to clubs on the extent of players injuries;
• Details of treatment and medication players are taking while on national team duty and;
• In case of injury, a consultation with the club doctor to determine the extent and gravity of the injury and the measures to be taken. In case of disagreement, the club shall have the final say.

Youth Protection & Development

ECA has a clear position when it comes to the protection and development of youth players. ECA does not support any proposal based on restrictions and obligations (e.g. '6+5' rule, '9+9' concept) but favours an approach based on incentivizing and promoting youth training. In this respect, ECA believes it is important to concentrate on the following:

• First Professional Contract: the player's first professional contract is an important moment both for the player and for the club who has trained and educated him. In ECA's opinion, a balanced solution for recognizing the work of the club while preserving the freedom of choice of the player can be found and would certainly function as strong incentive for clubs to invest in youth development.
• Squad Size Limit: implementation of a squad size limit to 25 players with no limit for youth players (e.g. Under 21) would certainly have a concrete effect on the youth development policy of clubs.
• Financial Fair Play: ECA believes that the Financial Fair Play Regulations will play a significant role in promoting youth development and training. Those effects are not yet visible but will certainly be in the coming years.

Democracy

In modern democratic systems, stakeholders have direct representation in those organisations, which seek to govern them or have the ability to make democratic change within them.
The position of clubs in the decision-making process has to be reconsidered. The current pyramid structure only allows for one stakeholder (the national associations) to have real meaningful decision-making powers. The Executive Committees of UEFA and FIFA, where major decisions are taken, is only made up of national association representatives. Other bodies such as the UEFA Club Competitions Committee or the FIFA Committee for Club Football only have powers to propose.
The international model should become democratic and adapt as have done most national models in which all stakeholders are directly represented in the decision-making bodies. Clubs should have at least equal rights as federations when it comes to decisions relating to all matters affecting club football.

Transparency

In addition to democracy, modern governance structures are characterized by transparency. Transparency in an organisation means that all those involved in football need to understand the governance structure, policies and procedures. In particular, there is a need for greater transparency around the roles and responsibilities in the decision-making processes.

• Procedures on how decisions are reached have to be available before and made public.
• All stakeholders have to be properly and directly informed about the specific reasons for the decisions.
• At the same time, it must be guaranteed that a set of procedures/decisions cannot be changed without the explicit agreement of all involved parties; certainty of rules is paramount.
• Consequently, an independent control body has to be in place to certify the conformity with the rules and procedures.

Above-mentioned points clearly highlight that there is a strong need for reform in the governance structures of football. ECA is confident that in the near future the governing bodies will make changes happen to the benefit of the whole football family.